HI RACHEL, LOVE YOUR VIDEOS...! New to plants, started to get back into AQUARIUMS again.....I am a retired zoo keeper, 69 yrs. Old...so I HAD to face the fact, that I cannot have ALOT OF hoofstock. Etc. So, I'm surrounding myself with AQUARIUMS. Really like the CORYS, your videos on them EXCELLENT, AND for now. GUPPIES and ENDLERS. The types BLEW me away. Yrs ago when I had tanks. ,had a GUPPIE TANK in my dorm room...1970....the new varieties Are astounding...! Anyway, I find your videos, very helpful, interesting, AND right to the point....New Subscriber here. KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK, & THANKS....Ron Shook
I have a temple compacta in my 20 gallon tank and when I got it it was about 2" tall but now (a year later) it is about a foot tall and my shrimp and black khuli loaches love to hang out on the leaves and in the roots. I love this plant
my favorite is water lettuce "Pistia stratioes" i have found it will grow just fine under low light as well as high light and they make a great covering to prevent jumping witch is great cuz with a floating plant you want an open top tank so they dont mold
I've been having some success with Echinodorus " Kleiner Prinze". It's a nice size for smaller aquariums, and the color is fantastic. The leaves start out dark mahogany red, then turn olive green as they age. It is kind of slow to get started, but really nice once it gets going. Rotala rotundifolia grows like a weed and is dead easy to propagate. The leaves get a pinkish color as they reach the top of the water. Dwarf Sagittarius is also doing well for me as a carpet plant..
I started with Java Fern and it has been the most rewarding plant. It's very easy and it does well in high light high tech and low tech low light. It has done extremely well for me! It took over an entire driftwood that I had at one point! It was a bit as a 50 gallon bucket!
OMG - I bought this plant and was told it's name is Red Cardinal. Mine grew out the top! A driftwood "disaster" made me start looking up how to replant and/or cut and propagate. I was cleaning and feeding and yada yada. I was also listening/half watching RU-vid as the autoplay videos came on. I looked when you said it grows on banks of streams and is called Ludwigia Repens. You then answered my question seconds later on how to propagate! Thank You
my favorite plants are :- 1:Trident Java fern . 2: echinodorus tenellus red (great and easy carpet for average and non co2 lighting conditions) 3: hygrophilia pinnatifida ( I think u can replace some of ur buc with this plant , on drift wood which will give a great look ) 4: marcilia hairsta ( wonder plant ) .
My top 2 favorites are probably not on anyone else's favorites list. 1) Coontail/hornwort, usually used in outdoor ponds. Grows crazy fast and sucks up basically all of the nitrates in the tank. It is a bit of maintenance since it can stretch out easy and also fill out too much of the tank, but then you just cut off the ugly, replant the pretty stems, and throw the ugly parts in the compost heap. 2)Azolla cristata a surface dwelling aquatic fern that acts like duckweed. I had to build a special surface level enclosure for my filter intake to keep these off the prefilter sponge, and they are really annoying when doing maintenance since they stick to your arms. But it holds symbiotic relationships with certain cyanobacteria that allow the two together to make fertilizers that the rest of my tank plants benefit from....I don't know the degree to which it helps... but they are very pretty when they cover the surface of the tank. These also need to be culled frequently. 3) Aponogeton, this was my first aquarium plant. It was one of the "beta bulbs" you see in pet stores, sold as dry bulbs. So far they have grown well for me, even with fairly abysmal lighting. The flowers are also sweet smelling though not showy. One last thing I will say is that if you try to start a waterlily bulb for an aquarium, use a separate vase or container to get it started. These things can smell nasty and release some sort of oils into the water after getting wet. It's not uncommon for waterlilies to have rot, especially if they were originally grown in heavy mucky soils. Start these in a separate container until growth resumes and you can scrub them clean before putting them into a tank with fish. Other than that they are very nice. You can trim off longer leaves to force the plant to make shorter leaves, giving it a nice bushy appearance. But we'll just say that waterlilies are my number 5. Number 4) would be Marimo algae. I often cut the balls into pieces and lay them down on the substrate, or in cracks, to simulate the appearance of moss. Very tolerant of low lights and fairly slow growing, so it is probably the lowest maintenance plant on this list, but very nice for adding a bit of a "well settled" look to a planted tank.
Excellent video. It must be so rewarding to have plant's growing in your aquarium. I would love the same, I've tried & tried but to no avail. My 2 to 3" goldfish love ragging them up! The only plant I can seem to grow is the Anubias Nanna... but it grows soooooooooooooo slow! Thank you for sharing it has given me new hope.
Thank you for putting out your videos. This answered my question about the Anubias N. which is featured as the 3rd plant. I place one in my 5 gallon betta tank (betta had to be moved since killed a guppy) and now the some of the leaves have actually partially surfaced. Within 2 weeks I have 2 new leaf stocks fully matured and roots are growing more. This Anubias a transplanted from my main tank which did well and now will take over the 5 gallon which it is good since it is the only plant and the betta loves it. Thank you so much. I hope your husband is doing better after the accident.
It looks like you have a lot of plans that actually don't need to be planted in substrate. thanks for the video all of my tanks have gravel because when I first got into the hobby I didn't know that you could actually buy aquarium soil because I live in Taiwan. I'm just recently got aquarium soil that you can buy in the store.
I have a 75 gallon low tech low light tank, and have mainly Java ferns of different types, Anubis of different types and also Buces of many types. I really like the information about the African Water Fern. I want to have a big background plant, and that may be the one I am looking for. I was not really looking for "fool proof" because I don't consider myself as a fool, but certainly easy care, low light, and slow growing is top on my list.
I have had a very steep learning curve with plants in the last year so I bit the bullet and spent a little extra on a complete scheme including hardscaping. The plants that have done best on my low maintenance style are Echinodorus blehri, Vallisneria Natans, Cryptocoryne wendtii, Microsorium pteropus windelov and Cryptocoryne parva. I had experience with echinodorus and vallisneria, but not the others so it was interesting to see what succeeded or failed. I'm a big fan of crypts now and will be using the January sales to add more to my tank. 😊
Thank you for the informative video/s, I don't own any tanks and I'm only 16, but learning about animals and plants is a passion of mine and these videos are so well made and informative that I can't help but to watch them all. I also wanted to ask if I was the only one who found the fish at 2:26 completely hilarious. The silver one in the right side of the screen, it looks to be at the mid point of the tank (Height wise).
Rachel, Iove all your videos and especially this one. Thank you. Two questions : do the needle leaved Java ferns have the same stringy, messy roots that the regular Java's have, and how do you get the liverworts established? They look awesome growing on the driftwood. Thanks again.
The most durable thriving and fastest growing aquatic plant in my aquarium that has survived where others have died is java moss and duckweed. Now I really like putting pothos ivy vines in my aquarium after they have rooted. I am trying to sprout avocado seeds to also put them in my aquarium to substantially lower waste matter.
I love what you're doing with your tanks.....I'm new to the hobby less than a year now and thank God all is good with both plants and fish now....touch wood.....Anyway +1 sub good work 😁😁👍👍👍
Thanks for the vid! I'm looking for aquatic plants, but since I'm *really* a beginner, I'm a bit hesitant... but your explanation is *very* clear. Now off I go to find some buce :D
Thank you for sharing this video, Sweetie cuz I have been wanting to start a 10gal aquarium and also would love to make it a plant-based one just like the ones you showed here. But I didn’t want the plants that require too much light and if possible, low-maintenance ones that are safe and edible for the fish to eat. I also wanted shrimps in it, too. To be in the safe side, I might just get both the fish and plants from you cuz this would be my first time ordering online for live fish plants and once the aquarium/plants finally set/stable, the fish will be the next ones I’ll be ordering. I have an 8yr old Lil’ Man who is autistic and ADHD who has been wanting a fish as a pet. He asked for a big fish like a flowerhorn or any large cichlid but I think having a big fish for him to enjoy won’t be calming for him. So, I want to start him with a smaller aquarium with plants a peaceful school of fish in which I’m sure he would love them - all thanks to Magic School Bus Series. Which is why I wanted to start with a low maintenance aquarium so my Lil’ Man help care for his lil’ underwater world. I hope 10gal aquarium is a good size and I hope it doesn’t requires CO for the plants to stay healthy. I really love all your videos and try to watch them as much as I can which is a bit difficult, yet, I really can never get enough of them - sadly, I’m too behind and started watching your old videos. Hopefully someday, I can catch up with your most recent ones and I also share them with my younger brother who has always been wanting to have a planted aquarium himself. But with the baby on the way and his work, I might have to make one for him as a Hanukkah gift this year. ＹＡＨＳＨＵＡ bless and ＳＨＡＬＯＭ to you, your love ones and followers🌺 Can’t wait to start the aquarium this fall or coming winter vacation. 🌈🦋🌴It’s the only time I am able to get a break from everything☺️🐚🌺
Thankyou Rachel. Im really enjoying your videos. Id love to put more plants in my big tank...i adore Java Fern and Anubias i just really suck at tying it on to things.
I do like the rhizome plants for the same reason you do I can attach it to something and move them around, I tend to attach them to small rocks and real small pieces of driftwood.. I think I went pretty much plant for plant with you with the exception of the fern. I don't have the needle leaf java but I do have and like the trident. I also plant in substrate containers that are like 2" deep. I'm in the process of breaking up rocks and getting the glue ready I have 25+ buces in the mail!!!
ummmm, might be able to help! I do have a bunch of things (shipping boxes, recycling) I would like to return... springtime. I could send some trident. And some other odds and ends!!! burp! 'scuse me!
You're tanks are so awesome! Just gorgeous! In the past when I had aquatic plants, I usually just ended up getting algae all over them, and I'd have to clean them off. And, the nitrites and nitrates were zero when I tested them. I know that algae thrives off of more than that, though. But, anyway, thanks for the video!
Hi Rachel. Mine are probably Java Fern and Amazon Sword but I bought another a week ago and I'm not sure if you have ever covered them? Floating plants. I bought Salvinia this past week...its a really quick grower but its easy and the fish and shrimp love it! I think it must be one of the best for keeping water quality better for longer between water changes. Only slight downside is I will have to remove some every week as it grows soooo quick but that's not a big deal!
A suggestion, I often have trouble figuring out which plant or fish on the screen you are talking about. Could you insert an arrow or circle, in a colour that is not obtrusive but is easily noticed, pointing at the subject of discussion? Just found your channel, I’m binge watching anything to do with plants and betta fish, also shrimp .🤓I love doing fun research like this! It’s 4am, how am I still awake?!
Rachel,your an artistic person...ya gotta do something about the faux wood trim on that tank. There is a woman on youtube who does all the exterior of her tanks in motiff's. Can't remember her handle. But I can see you doing something with that trim..pinstripes of many colors zig zagging..
Hey Rachel! After watching all your videos I decided to buy some Apistogramma cacatuoides, Otos and Pygmy Cories for my nano tank. :D The male and female Apisto look amazing and the female has a nice fat tummy and the male is displaying up nicely for her, Fingers crossed I get eggs soon.
Very cool video Rachel and thanks for sharing. I know this is a plant-themed video...but the fish at the 1:45 mark with the yellow chin, dorsal and the top tail fin is pretty amazing looking. Do you mind sharing what species it is? I did not see it listed.
I want to start by saying great video and talks. Let's not forget the fish of course! I currently have 40G Breeder with a large piece of driftwood with Anubia nana glued to them that are doing great. However, my Jungle Val, Lloydelia, Giant Hygro and Jave Fern aren't. The plants after the Val are rather new. I know it'll take time too root and acclimate. I gave up on water wisteria. It was tough to keep anchored. I think my red tail kept pong around. I want to know what I can do to have all my plants take off? I dose Seachem products and use root tabs. My parameters are Amm:0 Nitrite:0 Nitrate:5-20ppm, PH:8.2. I have pretty heavy flow have five filters going. Currently working on reducing some current for my galaxy rasboras. I perform 50% WC twice a week.
+COOPER'S CICHILDS for now, just email me your wish list and I can get them for you. Next order will be after new years. I can be reached via the how to order tab on my website, which sends an email directly to me at msjinkzd@gmail.com
best of luck! Planted tanks definitely have a learning curve, so my best advice is to plant to capacity with plants that you are fairly certain you can sustain (meaning, get as many as you can afford, so the algae issues are less at the start)
So the more I plant the less chance of algae? Or at least minimize it? Honestly I wondered abt this jump I'm taking into the world of the live planted aquariums. I've saved all your videos abt the shrimp. Want to try and see how I do with them. Thanks for the advice, keep it coming. I'm learning :)
Just checked out tank tested, never knew y'all somehow connected through aquascape video he posted... always watched your videos, but its better respected to also subscribed. Thanks for your videos
I was never able to grow java fern, mosses or any specific plants said to be easy to grow. Basically the only things i seem to be able to grow are cryptocoryne, amazonas swords, and anubias lol I've tried everything from co2 to various fertilizers, dirted tanks, and now even RO water for a lower PH
I just got ficoidea hedge cherry stem plants. So far I'm keeping them out of the substrate to develop their roots. I don't want to loose them. There was supposed to be instructions but it wasn't. Any ideas on the best care for these plants.
Hey rachel....i know you cant fix my problem but want to see if you have suggestions...i have a 75 with ecocomplete a bunch of swords anubias and water wisteria all community fish tank been running about 10 months and started getting blackbeard about 4 months ago so cut back light that didnt help then cut back to almost no ferts that didnt work and tried to feed less that didnt work....i do have a problem were my fish will not eat pellets so its blood worms every couple days and flakes everyday i hate flakes cause as they eat small particals go all over...i also noticed at night about 150 tiny tiny white cone shaped snails(maybe Malaysian trumpet) so im guesses thats a clue to too much food.....any suggestions? To help with black beard,snail,and opion of switching to small pellets only untill fish will start to eat(or is that bad?....thanks rachel!
I'm beginning aquatic plants in my 29 gal. tank. I love them! I'm never going back to artificial plants again. I started slow, with ludwigia repens, jungle val, and anubias. I would like to add some more variety of mid to background plant so it just isn't solid jungle val. Have any suggestions? I am all for easy-to-care-for plants!
I love Stargrass as a foreground. Question: I'm starting a planted nano (10g). I kept a planted tank for 5 years, about a decade ago (55g). I always had trouble will my water's KH (about 1 or 2, from the tap). With over shooting the light and fertilizers I was able to get great growth on "fast growers" but many things would not take. I have heard 4KH - 8KH is ideal for a planted tank. What do you think of this?? Should I soak shell-sand in my new water to raise the KH?? If I change my KH will I loose the experience of growing all those plants at that metabolic rate? I'm confused.
When creating a planted aquarium, are gas pockets not a concern because of the type of substrate or plant root system? I have been very interested in starting a planted tank but wonder how you plant without disturbing if gas pockets are still a concern as they are in full sand aquariums where I have to keep the sand raked.
I absolutely love this video BTW. I have plenty of different anubias in a couple tanks but I've seen a couple of the others shown here and thought they were more high tech so i held back. I will definitely be getting some of them now.
